Building My Future
by Omodor
Summary: People always seem to think it is only the action of heroes that matter, that only they can make a difference in the world but no hero can match an army or wage a war, on their own. I will have what truly matters. I will have the greatest army. OC/SI, Avicebron demi-servant.
1. Chapter 1

I groan as I struggle to wake up. Which turns into a whine as much of my throbs in pain and discomfort.

'What happened?' I'm in a chair. Why am I in a chair? It's wooden, but with armrests and cushions. I don't own a chair like that.

I open my eyes to see what was:  
Definitely not my house.  
My childhood home.

Oh Shit my head feels like it's splitting in two.

What the hell was that? Ok think, what's the last thing I remember?

It was:  
Going to bed for an early shift tomorrow.  
Being attacked in my lab.

Argh again, shit, what was going on?

I stand from my chair, my body violently protesting but I force myself forward with panicked adrenaline. I'm in what has to be the living room of a fairly nice house. The wooden floor is in good condition, as was the impressive looking furniture. The only thing out of place was the layer of dust on everything.

What caught my attention, however, was the mirror and the burnt elf looking back at me.

The only thing passing through my head was:  
'who the hell is that!?'  
'That fire spell did more damage than I thought'

Argh again, dammit this didn't make any sense. Panic has truly settled in.

"I need to sit down", even my voice is wrong.

I freeze, spotting something, as I turn back to the chair. Any other time I wouldn't have cared it was there but, given everything that was happening, now it was the final piece of the puzzle I need to figure this out.

The golden mask of Avicebron.

"Well ... Shit" and then everything went black.

* * *

The human had always loved stories, many of his earliest memories involved a television or book.  
History and lore were just another form of story and when something caught his interest he set about devouring as much information about it as he could get a hold of.

He'd taken pride in being able to win many arguments about his favourite worlds, using some obscure facts to completely derail their argument.

Fanfiction had been the logical next step. The "what ifs?" And "could have been" had drawn him in like a black hole. While see his favourite characters avoid tragic mistakes or create whole new ones was satisfying, it was crossovers that had captured his imagination.

Having the heroes and villains of one world react to something completely outside their understanding was a sight to behold.

Then one day he stumbled on a story about a troll with psychic powers and unmatched cube based building abilities, who used them to create a kingdom. A character made from a CYOA template.

A good read and when he reached the end he'd reached the end he'd looked the template over. When he reached the section on crossovers his mind swam with ideas.

It wasn't until a few days on a lunch break he'd put pen to paper and see if he could get the best of his ideas to work.

One might look at the leaders of Azeroth, past and future, and think that you needed be a personal pillar of strength or master of magic to rule a successful nation. That was wrong what you needed were loyal civilians and a powerful army.

When one thinks of Fate Servants they normally picture the Sabers and Berserkers, the powerhouses that could wipe out entire armies with a sneeze, that wasn't he'd had in mind. As fun as showing up, saying "I'm king now" and rolling from there sounded.

He'd wanted to build his on kingdom, he would build it in its entirety. The buildings, the army, the citizens. Bricks and mortar, golems, homunculi.

He'd brought Fate Servant without gaining too many negatives, with any luck starting during the First War should give him enough time to build an army that the Burning Legion, or their minions, wouldn't be able to afford to target him and most of his favourite characters were Horde leaders, so the alliance's opinion of him didn't matter much.

The choice of which Servant was a similarly easy task. Avicebron was only Servant he knew of that could build an army, many could summon or conjure one but that seemed like a dangerous gamble considering what existed beyond Azeroth.

Being one of his favourite characters didn't hurt either.

High elf was an easy decision for race, long life, affinity for magic and a way in with the Horde if the Sunwell was lost.

Selecting from the personality section wasn't just easy but also rewarding. Whoever had made the template must have been an overly kind person because many of more self-centred options gave points. Becoming ambitious and indifferent were necessary for the choices he'd have to make, almost giving him enough for a home and money. What good was the knowledge to create an army if you lacked the resources?

Taking traitor and stubborn, allowing him to gain the home and money he'd need, were risks he'd felt needed to be taken. There was a lot of time between the start of the First War and the end of the Third War, hopefully it wouldn't cause too much damage.

He'd almost finished there, focus back on his lunch and go back to work, but a stray thought had derailed his whole plan.

Avicebron knew nothing about homunculi.

He'd kicked himself. Avicebron's Wiki page had said over and over again that he knew next to no magecraft that wasn't almost exclusively related to golems.

He'd hastily gone back over the template to see what needed to be done to fix that mistake.

Fate Magus was critical, even if there was a Servant who could do the job better, the cost for another was too much.

It had cost him greatly, being the target of two dragon flights was no joke, but it could be worse.

One flight would already be crazy. Another had little more than two decades before their Aspect too went past the point of no return. The third would erase him the moment he came into existence or ignore him. Then there was the flight that rarely woke from the Dream. The final flight, while by no means pacifist, held life in high regard, so a peaceful resolution with them may be possible.

The fact that he hasn't chosen which flight was a problem all in itself, but it was worth it for the skills of possibly Fate's greatest living homunculus creator.

Jubstacheit von Einzbern, head of the Einzbern family.

With that he'd closed his phone, swallowed his burger and gone back to work.

* * *

I woke with a gasp, standing quickly as I took in my surroundings. Black above me, with countless spots of different coloured lights.

Laying face up across from me the human who had somehow caused this. Floating in a pool of swirling blue, black and gold, with white and red circling each other randomly throughout. I lean down to touch the pool I'm already ankle deep in.

My mind is assaulted with plans for golems, homunculi, the resources needed, how to set up a workshop to produce them at an alarming rate.

I yank my hand away from the liquid, breathing heavy. This was the golem master and the homunculus crafter.

This wasn't right, they weren't whole, pieces were missing. Where was the Noble Phantasm, or the Grail blueprints?

The template flashes through my head again and the answer, now that I had some context to what I was seeing, becomes apparent.

The human messed up properly adjusting his points, forgetting to remove the correct amount as he purchased Avicebron's power. This must have caused the gooey mess around them.

If that was the case then why is Jubstacheit also in such a pitiful, although more held together, state? Where was the problem wi-

"15 plus 7 is 22 not 23 you idiot!" I yell at the still unconscious form.

Deep breath. Now is not the time.

I need to fix this. There was so much knowledge here. Everything I had been working for, and more. The thought of it slipping way was horrifying beyond belief.

A sloshing sound draws my attention to the waking human. Excellent maybe he knows something about this and could come up with a solu-

As the human stands up a flash of blinding light erupts in my face and I see the path forward. Only the first step, but it's the first step on a path of greatness and power. Too stand at the table of those who will create the history of Azeroth.

So I stretch out, a mild tremor of fear and excitement as I wait for the human grasp it and our future.

* * *

The elf had always been odd, in the grand scheme of things. He'd grown up with his father in his home and workshop. The man had loved him greatly but with the nearest town two hours away by foot, he'd grown up isolated from other children.

His mother had passed from illness when he was no older than six, her trips to town three times a week were probably the only reason he wasn't a total failure in social situations.

He wasn't great by any means but he had a tendency to treat a conversation like a puzzle, and try to solve it as fast as possible.

Too this day he still didn't know what had killed her. She'd been fine the first day, feverish the second, bedridden the third, then gone the fourth.

So it had been up to his father to raise and teach him, unwilling to leave his family home and return to Quel'Thalas.

His grandmother had been one of the mages sent to teach the first humans magic during the Troll wars and had stayed in human lands both to teach more humans and to act as sort of magical advisor.

It was a family legend that she'd tricked her students into carving the road that led up the hill to, and then building, their home.

However as humans knowledge of magic grew so to do their need for her shrink. It was probably luck that old age took her life before a confrontation occurred. The home had been given to her youngest son, who had no interest in the politics of Silvermoon, only wanting a secluded place for his own research, taking his wife with him.

His childhood had been uneventful, day after day of study and assisting his father. His teenage years less so once he'd been allowed to travel to town on his own but ultimately of little importance. Save for when he'd discovered his calling.

With such a lack of social contact the elf had searched for other means of stimuli. His breath attempts at teleportation, a way for him to make his trips to town a daily occurrence, had ended almost as soon as they had begun. With no tomes beyond its mention in the house it was an impossible task.

His father was skilled in enchanting if there was an application of the skill it was documented somewhere in the house, so it was only a matter of time before he found something that wholly held his imagination.

Golems, the inanimate made animated. If he couldn't earn allies he would make them.

With this discovery he'd devoured every scrap of knowledge on the art of golem creation that lay within his home, both the written and any that his father would teach him.

By the age of seventeen he'd mastered anything even remotely related to golems for his limited library, so he was forced to seek knowledge outside of the safety of his home.

Dalaran held more knowledge than he'd known what to do with. Getting into the courses and lessons he'd wanted has been easy, he'd spent his whole life as his father's assistant. Only those nearing the end of their advanced classes could match his knowledge on enchanting, among the students at least.

He'd graduated in near record time and earned himself an apprenticeship with one of the most respected enchanters in the city. The years he spent working for him were used to refine his skills in golem crafting and writing paper after paper on ways to improve on current techniques, spending any money he had not used to keep him alive and healthy on supplies and renting equipment.

It was a decade of hard work before he was given a lab and budget of his own. No longer needing to scrape by for quality components aloud his research too make leaps and bounds, but it wasn't enough.

His golems were still sluggish and uncoordinated, at least by his standards, and every method or theory he used to try and overcome this limitation only lead to more dead ends. It was enough to drive a person mad.

He'd been saved by a group of recent graduates looking for aid in their own research. They had been attempting to prove that arcane magic could be used to heal others just as well as priests could with the light. A way to properly focus their magic while eliminating mortal error was needed to test their latest idea and had come to ask to use one of his device after they had been denied from their usual places of requisitions.

He'd agreed on the condition that he could watch their experiment, needing a distraction from another failure. The group had reluctantly agreed, while having someone observe their secrets was undesirable anyone else they could ask would demand a far higher price.

The experiment was a failure but watching as the cadaver they had burned many of their favours to get, spasm under their magic had been the enlightenment he'd needed. If the golems were failing to act in a mortal way then he would have to study mortals to find a solution.

So he'd studied until he could see body diagrams in his sleep, taking everything he now understood of the bodies of the mortal races to improve his work to new heights. Another decade on an entirely new field of study, but it had been worth it.

It was in this delirium of inspiration that certain similarities between what made up flesh and the necessary ingredients needed to make his golems. He'd dove deeper into this idea until a theory had emerged. He could grow golems.

He'd kept this work a secret, afraid that others would mistake what he was doing for necromancy, hiding his purchasing of the supplies he'd need within the funds he received for his golem work. Not a total lie it was just a different kind of golem then they were expecting.

The road had been a long one failure after failure and more than a few close calls with the city guard while disposing of them but eventually he managed a success. A horribly misshapen blob of flesh but it was moving and resembled the human he'd taken samples form, if you squinted and held you head to the side.

The experiment continued, each new creation looking more human than the last, until an amazing discovery, one of the flesh golems was producing magic. It had dawned on him then that he was no longer making golems but something else entirety nonetheless that had not stopped him from going further in his pursuit of golem crafting techniques.

More intense study of the magical flesh golem showed some of its nerves had bloated and were allowing magic to flow through them. An idea formed in his head, if he could use these magical veins in his golem, allowing the magic to flow contend with certain routes, they could make them immune to anti-magic spell, perhaps even anti-magic fields.

That's when he'd been found out. Just as he'd finished laying the nerves into his latest prototype, the remains of the flesh golem still warm on the table next to him, Dalaran's anti-mage guards had broken down his door. Unsure who it was from his lab at the back of his house on the second floor, he'd assumed the worse and activated the unstable golem and quickly gathered up his more important tools and research.

When the guards had revealed themselves he'd been relieved for a moment before they began yelling for his surrender and charging him with murder. Shocked by the allegation he'd too slow to stop one of the guards for attempting to deactivate the golem.

It had been pandemonium from there. The golem attacked, feeling the anti-magic spell wash over it as an enemy action, before he could yell the deactivation command a wave of fire was launched from the guard captain.

By the time he'd recovered from the pain the flames had caused it was too late to stop the coming series of events. The golem, having no real protection, was in the beginning stages of an overload, speed along by the guards continuing to assault it with a number of different spells.

Desperate to escape the inevitable explosion he dashed for the emergency exit. He slammed the door behind him and jumped from the small balcony to the alleyway below, clutching his life's work like a scared parents would their child.

The explosion had gone off before he hit the ground, if anyone had tried to run around the golem after him they were probably dead. Wasting no time he ran for the nearest teleportation hub and before anyone could ask had aligned the device to send him to the only place his panicked mind could think of. Home.

So with a quick tampering of the device in order to make it harder to track him he stepped through the portal unsure what lay ahead.

* * *

I catapult myself into a sitting position as I regain consciousness.

What the fu-.

I cut myself off as I take on my surroundings. A starry sky, a pool of swirling colours and a familiar, if worried looking, elf.

No no no nononono. This can't be real, shit like this doesn't happen, it can't happen. Those other world stories are all bullshit, magic fairy tale bullshit.

I fall forward onto all fours as I try and regain my sense of balance enough to stand.

I wouldn't be able to survive on Azeroth, not long term anyway. As soon as the third war started the whole planet was in a constant state of war, and that wasn't even considering the cosmic horrors out there. For christ's sake a giant space demon god stabbed the planet, what hell was I supposed to do with that information.

I get my feet under me and start to stand. Whatever this goo is it has the consistency of melting ice cream, not a liquid but too runny for it to be solid.

Seriously what the fu-. My brain stops as a light flares in my face and I see ... something. A vision? Helpful advice? Either way what I see scares me.

The elf's hand extends quickly, there's a slight tremor in his hand but, its clear that he's already made up his mind.

I stand frozen for what might have been hours, I knew what I had to do next but that didn't make it any easier. I'd be able survive, thrive even, but I wouldn't be me anymore, not as I was now anyway.

My hand slowly raises to meet the elf's, shaking like a leaf. I don't want to do this, I'd rather just go back home to bed, but I don't really see that as an option. I just hope this works.

I grab the elf's hand and we melt into the pool beneath us.

* * *

On the floor of my home my eyes snap open, mind spinning with plans for the future.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up and knowing, as in factual knowing, that you weren't the same person you were when you went to sleep, or passed out but that's splitting hairs, is an odd experience. It's a bit like looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing something different about your face but you can't figure out what.

Speaking of mirrors, now that I didn't have two people in my head trying to assert control, I could get a good look of myself in the one above the fireplace. I don't look too bad, I wasn't stunningly handsome, but I was probably above average. However the long messy blond hair and the burn marks wasn't helping.

The hair would be easy to fix, just a haircut and a brush. It's clear that I had been neglecting it for quite a while, a shave was probably a good idea as well. The burns are a more serious problem. They aren't a hazard to my wellbeing but the right side of my face was going to have some nasty burns. I've also lost that eyebrow, great.

No stop I've got no time for that, I've got angry mages after me. What do I do about that? I can't fight them, direct conflict had never been my specialty, or Avicebron's. I had time to build a golem capable of fighting them off but I doubt that I would find even a fraction of the materials I'd need in the house to make a high quality golem. Multiple weaker golems? No mages could easily cast area of effect spells.

So fighting was off the table. Do I make a run for it? Father had moved back to Silvermoon with his new wife and children. The kingdom would also probably find my golem incredibly valuable. No, I'd never make it that far, the mage are more than skilled enough to track me and they will be better supplied. Even taking the delay they would face telling the king why they would be moving armed troops thro-.

Wait I can use that. If the mage hunters caught me they would take me back to Dalaran where at best I would be banished and my research taken, not the worst outcome now that I have otherworldly knowledge in my head, at worst I'm facing an execution. If I can make it to the Capital city before they catch me I can leverage my status as a Lordaeron citizen to have the trial there, giving at least a chance to defend myself. Any chance of that happening in Dalaran died with my golem, using experiments to resist the guards guaranteed expulsion from the city, guilty of the crime or not. 'Sets a dangerous president of unstable behaviour' or some other nonsense.

Ok that's my only move right now, best of the bad choices, now how do I get there before they catch me? I can't walk it, even running I'd be lucky to make it past Tarren Mill, even if I could see it from the window the detour over the bridge is at least an hour on its own. I need a horse but without any money on me I'd need to steal one and then my whole plan is ruined, no way will the kingdom will side with me if I have a criminal charge from one of their villages hanging over my head. There isn't anything I the house I can both carry to the village and sell enough for a horse and all I've brought with me was my research and my to-.

My tools! A lot of my tools had components that are highly magically components, I can absolutely use them make a golem. They aren't nearly enough for a proper combat golem, maybe one that would burn through itself and collapse after about ten minutes, but a horse golem is completely possible. It'll be even better than a normal horse, it won't tire, had no need for food and will listen even if I told it to jump off a cliff.

Plan set, let's get to work.

* * *

Horses suck.

In one of my previous lives I'd always taken father's wagon to Tarren Mill and I was never in a rush, keeping the horse a fast walk. The closest my other life had come to ridding one was a petting zoo. The point being I don't have a huge amount of experience being on horseback, and none when the horse had no saddle and was going 80+ kilometres per hour. At this point I'm just hanging on for dear life, using magic to see out the golems avoid hitting anything.

Now I had a choice to make. I could head through Alterac, a much shorter route but I would lose the citizen protection I was planning to use if I was caught in there, or I could, go around the mountain range to the north and travel hours through Tirisfal Glades.

I call it a choice but the only real option was to go through Alterac, going the long way guaranteed that the hunting party will have picked up my trail before I'm even in Tirisfal Glades and at that point it'll be down to luck if they catch me or not.

Veering left I do a quick over view of the route I'll have to take to get to Capital City. Passing the border will be the real stop I have to make but not a problematic one, I found a few metal things around the house that I could change into coins. Still not sure if that skill came from Avicebron or Einzbern. After that I would need to go through Alterac City, the capital, I can't just make a beeline through the wilderness as one misstep at this speed will be the end of me. Then it was just a dash across the northern border.

Ok no problem I can do this. It's going to be easy.

* * *

Michael Melton was in a foul mood, a fact that was clear to anyone who could see his furious expression. The reason for this, and why his squad's flight formation was more spread out then it should be, was the wanted poster in his hands. Held tight in a white knuckle death grip.

Avis Soulsun.  
Wanted for:  
Murder  
Study of illegal schools of magic  
Use of illegal magic  
Resisting arrest  
Murder of a guard while fleeing the law

The rest of the poster went on to say about how he's a skilled golem crafter and a threat to anyone close to him and that anyone who see sees him should report it to the local guard for their own safety. None of that was important to Michael, the only thing on the piece of paper he cared about was the last of his charges. The murder of Officer Perry Olta.

The alert about the murderous elf had been raised by one of the shopkeepers near one of Dalaran's trash drop offs. Alarmed by the frequency of the drops he'd reported it to the guards, who had then sent an officer to the trash yard to examine the crate. The gory remains found inside where still twitching.

The discovery had been pushed up the chain until a member of The Council of Six got involved. Lord Kel'Thuzad himself had confirmed the use of dark magic, possibly necromancy, on the corpse and demanded that Avis be brought to him, alive, immediately so that he could stop any sinister plans he had for the city.

It should have been a simple take down, Avis had no training in combat, magical or mundane. They had prepared for his golems, bringing in an anti-construct specialist from the other side of the city just to make sure he had nothing that could help him. Braking down his door and making their way into to his lab was simple, they had even caught him with a freshly cut up corpse.

Everything went wrong when the golem resisted the anti-magic spell and lunged to attack. The fight gone poorly, caught off guard the golem had slammed the specialist in a wall and their panicked counterattack did more damage to the room then the golem, he'd earned his title if nothing else. Soulsun was out the door before anyone thought to go after him and because of this Perry had been a meter away from the golem when it had exploded.

He'd pushed all his men extra hard to find out where the basted had fled and gone to Capital City to tell, not ask, them that they would be sending troops to Avis's home and from there hunting him down like the animal he was. To hell with alive if he so much as sneezed when they caught him he'll-.

"I see him!" Yelled the man to his left, a spy glass to his eye. "The criminal is heading through Alterac towards Alterac City, he's on the fastest horse I've ever seen".

"Dammit, he must be trying to hide away in the kingdom somewhere, do whatever you have to stop him. If he gets away we may not find him again" and with that the squad dived to intercept their target.

* * *

The trip through Alterac is taking longer than I thought it would, it's still quicker than going around but these mountain roads are windy and slippery, forcing me to slow down. Even now the snow covered streets of Alterac City is a speed hump I am less than happy with, at least brought a cloak or I'd be freezing on top of all that. At least the roads aren't a confusing maze like so many other places, I guess when you have limited mountain top space you learn to use it.

When I pass the castle, coming up on my left, it'll be a straight shot north back into Lordaeron territory. Despite the terrifying horse ride this wasn't going too badly, I don't know what I was so worried abo-.

I see the fireball coming just in time to swerve out of the way. I pay little attention to the panicked screams around me as I push my golem forward at max speed. I get about ten meters before the next volley of spells are fired, from what I now see is a trio of griffin mounted mages. This attack is much more organized, and despite dodging a frostbolt and another fireball, something arcane hits my mount in the side, sending both of us flying through the front of a nearby store.

Oh shit that hurts. Ok what's happening? I'm being attacked by three mages on griffin back, they must be the Dalaran hunting squad but why attack me inside of the city? It's way too much of a risk, even if they catch me they'll more than likely need to attack the Alterac guards to escape waiting for me to come down the mountain or hell just out of the city so wh-?

A griffin lands in front of the store and I realize I don't have time for questions this is happening, time to deal with it. I push my magic into my mostly intact golem, there's an apple sized dint in its size, and if it was a real horse it would defiantly be dead. I begin modifying it for combat, I can practically feel my former tools scream in protest as the extra magic puts far too much strain on them. Looks like I'm walking the rest of the way.

"Surrender Avis we have you cor-" that's as far as the mage gets before my golem jumps out at him from the darkness of the store, lucky this happened on a sunny day or whatever light source they used for this place would have set the place on fire. Altered by my magic the golem no longer looks like a horse, a better description would be a skinny horse minotaur, lacking enough resource to make it big enough to tank any blows coming its way I've gone for a slimmer agile form. It pays off when the front page catches a stone fist to the face.

Using the distraction I repeat what I did at my lab, namely panic and run out the back, well side door but that's splitting hairs. Running into the alley I turn to run away from my pursuers on the main street and almost run into a brick wall, a dead end. Shit the other building doesn't have a way in from this alley I'm going to have to run out onto the main street and hope I can find some cover before they hit me in the back.

I take off sprinting, which is surprisingly hard in a robe, and turn out of the ally towards the castle gate. My idea is simple, the closer to the gate you get the more people there are which will make it easier to hide in the crowd and the less likely they are to shoot at me. As I get half way down the street I look back to see one mage finishing off my golem and the second one helping up his clearly hurt comrade. I make it another quarter of the street before they see me.

"Stop, you're not getting away you murderer" I don't look back to see which one of them is yelling. I do see the glowing blue chunk of ice out the corner of my eye, about a second before it hits me, as I try to round the corner to the main road.

There's a sharp pain in my side, then I'm suddenly cold all over and unable to move. An ice block, shit I'm finished. The funny thing is my momentum courses me to slide on to the main road were a large crowd stunned and frightened people.

"Finally, I'll see that they throw in the Violet Hold for the rest of your da-" the loud, injured guard is cut off by the sound of heavy boots.

"In the name of King Aiden Perenolde you are all under arrest". I can't tell which of the dozen heavily armed guard is yelling, but considering that they've surrounded the mages and me, I don't think it matters. My captors seem to agree judging by their increasingly nervous expressions.

"This is Dalaran business, under orders of the Council of Six, don't interfere or there will be consequences"

"You will surrender or we will cut you down" the same voice, there captain probably, but far angrier then before, and now I can see my opening.

"Asylum, I seek asylum" I yell at the top of my lungs, the murderous look the mages shoot me is as satisfying as it is terrifying. "Please save me from these mad meMmmn" and now the ice is covering my mouth. Fan-flippen-tastic

"Don't listen to him he's a dangerous murderer" the mage's voice is steady but panic is clearly seeping into him. "Just let us take him back to Dalaran to pay for his crimes and we can avoid any bloodshed". It was almost funny watch as a tower of smoke starts rising from the street we'd just left.

"Final warning, surrender or else". His tone made it quite clear that there was no longer any room for negotiations.

"Dammit, fine we surrender, but we will be taking the elf with us when we leave"

"Smart move, put the mages in chains then take them and the elf-sickle to the dungeons, at opposite ends, don't want them talking in case this is some kind of trick"

So I escaped one dungeon only to land in another. I'm out of options and I've got no more cards to play.

"Send someone to tell the king that the problem has been dealt with and that they'll be in the dungeon for him to see them at his discretion"

And just like that I'm back in the game.

* * *

The dungeon are exactly what I'd expect form them, damp, dark and cold. At least I was out of the ice block now, they don't last very long once there mana supply was cut off. The high quality prison cloths keeping me warm are a welcome surprise, but it makes sense this is their capital so mist everything would be higher quality and when it snows year-round warm clothes are a necessity instead of a luxury.

Not that any of that matters. What does matter is the parade of people walking down the hall to my cell, well the man leading those does any way.

King Aiden Perenolde is not a handsome man but calling him ugly would also be wrong. He has great hair and impressive cheek bones but they were ruined by a crooked nose, beady eyes and almost no chin. Combine that with the way he held himself, chin held too high and chest too far out, like he was trying to make himself look bigger, and you got the text book example of pompous, arrogant noble.

"So you're the criminal that had a group of mages almost burn my city down" he sneered at me. His voice wasn't much better, just the wrong side of nasally making difficult to listen to.

"I am your grace" I respond giving a deep bow and trying my best to sound humble and apologetic. "And it pains me that this misunderstanding has escalated to such an extreme that it required your attention"

I need to appear to be the victim in this. If I can get him on my side, or at least against Dalaran and the mages, then the legendary greed that will cause him to betray the Alliance for the Old Horde should let me bribe my way out of here and into all the money I'll need to start building my army.

"Well at least you're more polite then the others" his voice soften for a moment as he takes in my humble state then hardens back up as his kingly persona reasserts itself, "But tell me why shouldn't I just give you back to Dalaran and be done with this whole mess"

"Because I'm innocent of the crimes they accuse me of" I raise my head to look at him and see the blank look on his face, does he just not care or is he trying to hide his intentions? Doesn't matter I just need to get his attention and I know just how to do that. "They only want to steal the power of my discovery for themselves"

"Discovery? What kind of discovery?" I can see the greed in his eyes, sparkling with the light of a spoiled child who'd just seen their next favourite toy. "And why would they go to such lengths to steal it?"

"Allow me to properly introduce myself" I stand tall, straightening out my prison clothes, as I try and look respectable. "My name is Avis Soulsun and I am a golem master" the king seems unimpressed with the title but I still seem to have his attention so I continue.

"The reason that Dalaran wish to lay claim to my research is because I recently discovered a way to create golems of such high quality, and at such a fast rate, that it is now possible create an unbeatable army of stone warriors"

Perenolde's eyes widen, naked desire spreading across his fractures, but he quickly catches himself, hardening his face into his kingly default. "That's impressive, if it's true and this isn't some trick to escape justice"

"How about a demonstration" hope and excitement filling my voice at the thought of this plan working and me getting out of this dungeon. "I will build you one of my best golems for you to test and if you find it impressive enough you release me" I give my best salesman grin, only hampered by the burnt side of my face throbbing at the movement, "and if it truly captures your attention then perhaps a more permanent arrangement could be made?"

I stick my hand outside my cell, the guards immediately prepared for a trick but are waved off by the king. "You best hope your creation can live up to your grand claims or this dungeon will be the least of your worries" with that he shakes my hand and door opens wide.


	3. Chapter 3

It's amazing what ideas your mind can come up with when you are given what amounts to a blank cheque, unfortunately most of the more exciting ones had to be taken off the drawing board because it came with a twenty four hour deadline. The king wanted my golem built and tested within three days, the longest amount of time he could hold the mages before protocol demanded he do something. His guard Capitan pick out a nearby group of bandits as test subjects, my golem was to remove them or he'd throw me to Dalaran's mercy.

"Here's the list of supplies that you requested" a squeaky voice speaks from behind me as I coordinated the servants I've been given to help set up a temporary workshop, housed in a largely unused guest room of the castle normally reserved for visitor important enough to stay at the castle but not so important that they needed to sleep anywhere near the royal families quarters.

"Thank you Kerry" I reply as I take a large pile of paper from the skinny child that is the youngest apprentice of the kings magical advisor.

"My name is Kevin, sir" he has to tone of someone trying to be polite but clearly hasn't gotten good enough at it to hide his annoyance.

"Right, Kevin, sorry" responding half-hearted as I look over the list of resources I've got to work with.

Ok good news quantity isn't a problem, if this is what one kid could find in an hour then I won't have to worry about a supply bottleneck for a few years. The quality however is going to be a problem. Any jewel large enough or metal strong enough to be useful lacked the magical charge required.

In Fate many of the necessary ingredients needed to make Avicebron's golem needed to be incredibly old, luckily on Azeroth this restriction could be overcome by charging them with mana, a far more abundant and easy to manipulate energy then its Fate equivalent, but that takes time I don't have. Between remaking the tools I'll need for the more delicate parts of the forging process and the act of making the golem I just don't have the time.

Only one thing to do then, outsource the problem.

"Kevin how much do you know about mana infusement?" I keep my eyes on the paper, trying to select which jewels will be best to use for this and writing up a list of everything I'll need.

"Not much sir but I know some of the other apprentices can do it" his voice rising with hope as he tries to help

"Excellent, ask your master to send as many of his apprentices with skills in mana infusement as he can spare" I put down my quill, I need make a pen or something soon, and hand him my list. "Then go and retrieve everything on this list, take as many servants as you need too in order for it to all be here within the hour"

With a nod the boy runs off with half of the servants in the room, a little more than I would have taken but I didn't need them all here anymore with most of preparations for the workshop done and the more he takes the faster everything gets here.

I rub my forehead as I go over my checklist. There's still so much to do, I need to send the blueprints for the golems helm down to the blacksmith, set up the more delicate pieces for my workshop, write up exact instructions for the apprentices and the hundreds of small tasks I need to do to get this done.

This will be so much easier once I can build everything I need to automate the process, well then only thing to do is roll up my sleeves and get this done.

Tracking down his absentee apprentices was not how Libold Snowdon liked to start his morning, if they thought they could skip out on work just because he'd told them to go help the elf the king was indulging then they were horrifying wrong, as their punishment would demonstrate.

Normally he would have sent servants to track them down but the king had taken all of the ones he could trust to do the job, without being scared off by a few dancing light and a thinly veiled threat. That meant he had to stomp up and down the castle asking if anyone had a clue were those brats were, a cruel thing to do to a man coming up on seventy.

It seemed like a smart idea at the time. He hadn't needed any help at the time, from servants or his apprentices, having scheduled most of his day to deal with his growing list of "concerns" from the nobles, no I can't stop the snow, no I wont teleport you to one of Lordaeron's beaches for a weekend getaway, no evil wizards are not shrinking your clothes you fat cow.

It was midday by the time he found them. Just standing in the doorway of the room the king was lending to the elf for whatever he was doing.

"There you lot are" he yelled at the group of soon to be miserable students. "What are you all doing here? I've been running up and down this castle trying... too ..." His voice trailed off as he looked were one of his apprentices was pointing.

Standing in the middle of the room was a ten foot stone sculpture in roughly the shape of a headless person, metal protruding from beneath the rock that made up its hands and feet. Nearby, its creator carried a large gem the size of his hand, even form the doorway he could feel the magic packed inside it.

Libold watched in amazement as the elf placed the jewel just below something that might be called a face and with a pulse of magic it sank partly into the stone, two lights began shinning from the now active golems eyes.

"Good everything is working" crafter mumbled to himself, looking his work over with a discerning eye. "Now grab the helmet".

The golem obeyed, moving far more smoothly than any other of its kind that he'd seen, picking up the slab of metal from the corner of the room, revelling were the floor had dinted under the weight, then placing it over its face and jewel. A glow from the elf's hand and, just like the gem, the helmet sank slightly fusing to the golem.

"Ha-ha excellent it's all done" his voice was jubilant, like a child on its birthday. He turned to the nervous looking guards standing in the corner of the room. "If one of you take me to the king so I can inform him that my work is done then the sooner we can test it out"

Snapping out of his daze Libold moved toward the elf. "Quite the impressive creation you have here" making a show of examining the golem.

"I should hope so it's the culmination of my entire life's work" the fondness in his voice was like that of a proud parent. "But where are my manners, Avis Soulsun" he held out his hand.

"Libold Snowdon, current magical advisors to King Aiden Perenolde"

"A pleasure to meet you but I'm have to get going, the king wanted to be informed as soon as I was finished and my deadline is getting dangerously close" he gestured to one of the guards and began walking out the door.

As the elf turned out of sight, Libold turned back to the golem. "Well if he's just going to leave it here" a simple scanning spell should do, it would leave no lasting trace on the golem and give valuable insight into how he could build his own.

A flick of the wrist and a quick incantation and the spells used to create the golem came to him ... and kept coming and coming and coming andcomingandcoming it won't stop when does it end!?

He barely registered that he'd collapsed, barely heard the yells of his panicked students. His last thought before the darkness overtook his vision was about what kind of monster he'd just met.

Carriages are a much better way to travel than horseback, cushioned seats, nice backrest and something between me and the ground in case of a crash. I could do without awkward silence from the pair of guards sharing the ride with me but beggars can't be choosers.

Once I'd told the king that my golem was ready he'd ordered us to move out immediately. While his men had busied themselves with readying everything for the trip it was my job to get the golem to the convoy. A task made far more difficult by the fact that they didn't want it going out the main entrance and instead wanted it snuck out the rear servant's entrance, probably so the king would have plausible deniability if this went wrong.

My patience had lasted ten minutes of trying to play Tetris with my golem and the door, some of the guards laughing on the other side, before just had the golem run through the wall, leaving a cartoonish out line of itself. I don't think the king will mind too much once he hears what it can do.

A knocking on the window gets the guard's attention, the rhythm of taps makes it clear that it's a code of some kind. They nod at each other than stand.

"We're coming up to the bandit camp" his voice hard and devoid of humour. "You best be ready."

"Don't worry I'll be good to go the moment your Capitan gives the order", I'm looking forward to seeing just how strong my golem is compared to average humans.

Less the ten minutes later the carriage stops and I step out to get a look at what I'm up against.

It's clear why Alterac hasn't wiped out these bandits yet, this place is closer to a small fort then a bandit camp. The camp was on a high plateau, with only one narrow ramp up to the gate. Unsatisfied with merely having the superior position they'd also built a wall along the edge of cliff, it looked well crated and maintained despite only being made of wood, giving them time to mow down anyone trying to climb up. Knowing that the only way to get in will be the gatehouse they had made it out of stone with heavy wooden doors and metal reinforcements. Topping it off was the guard towers that flanked the gate, currently housing at least a half dozen very alert watchers.

All in all an excellent place to hide away, and that wasn't even including the fact that it was all built around the ruins of an old barracks. The bandits are smart I'll give them that.

"An impressive setup they have here" I say to no-one in particular.

"Ture and it's the only reasons the thieves still draw breath" the Capitan grumbles from behind me. A fairly average man but judging from the shape of his face it took him a little too long to learn the importance of protecting his head when he was younger. "Any plan we come up with to get rid of them would cost too many soldiers to justify what is more or less just killing a bunch of highway men."

"And I assume you've tried to starve them out." I rub my chin trying see if I can think of a better plan then just yelling charge.

"Of course but they must have escape tunnels because they just never seem to run out of supplies."

"Numbers?"

"Between fifteen and twenty-five, hard to get an accurate count when we can't see over the walls"

"Anything besides bandits in there? Hostages or mages perhaps?"

"No but the few times we've caught them outside their camp they've worked together far better than average bandits, so we assume their leader is probably a former knight." the Capitan's face scrunches in disgust. "Probably from Lordaeron, we get a lot of their runaways up here thinking they can make fools of us"

I decline to mention that this one did as I walk over to the carriage holding my golem. A quick flick of the wrist and it tears the cloth covering it off and moves to the tree I'm pointing to. There aren't many trees around here, no were enough to hide our approach, but the few that are here are healthy and strong.

"In that case I'm ready to show them the error of their ways" the golem effortlessly tears the pine tree from the ground as I turn back to the shocked looking Capitan. "If you would give the order."

A nod of his head is all I need to unleash my work upon the bandits.

It doesn't take long for the golem to reach the ramp, it can keep up with a horse so long as it doesn't need to turn sharply, the arrows that come from the guard towers bouncing off it like rain. Once it was at the base of the ramp it paused just long enough to throw its tree at the guard tower as if it were a javelin. Three bandits died in an explosion of wood and gore as the tree hit the top of the right guard tower and the golem continued up the ramp.

It's a testament to the craftsmanship of the gate that it doesn't break as the golem shoulder charges it or the next two hits, but the third one sends it flying back off its hinges. It wastes no time disappearing beyond the now open gate and out of view, defaulting to the 'kill everyone' order I gave it. If I had the means for remote viewing I would be able to give it more relevant orders for however the bandits had set up on the other side but that was something for the future.

As I watch the remaining guard tower topple over and the bandits fall to their deaths I walk past the Capitan as I start making my way to what has to be a slaughter at this point. "Come captain we should inspect the work of my golem."

The walk to the gate is a quite one, only the booms of my golem destroying something can be heard over the sound of marching boots and even that stopped by the time we are half there.

I see what I expect to see as we walk past the broken gate, a bloodbath. The bandits clearly hadn't expected the gate to come off its hinges judging by the limbs of at least four different people sticking out from underneath it. Another ten bandits appear to have been crushed or completely exploded by the golem's attacks. Some of them had run for it resulting in a trail of blood and body parts as a chase ensued.

It's a horrific scene to look at, the smell of blood is so thick in the air i can taste it, but to be honest with myself the only thing i feel as I look at all this is ... satisfaction.

Sure killing these people might be a mortally questionable act, they were bandits so it wasn't unquestionable evil, but I see this as sacrificing them to the greater good. Doing this will allow me to use Alterac's money to build an army with which I can shape the world for the better, and once I show the king what my homunculi can do I'll have my loyal followers.

"By the light" a dangerously green looking guard to my right mutters in a whisper, unsurprising that he's not taking this well, he's not a knight so the most dead bodies he'd see in one place is at most two or three and they would all be in better shape than the ones here.

I wave my hands in the air as I call my golem back, mostly an act to make the magically uneducated guards think the magic I use to control it put a strain on me.

We hear it coming as it runs around the crumbling barracks looking like something out of a horror show. As is too be expected it's covered in blood, the arm completely red up to the elbow, a little surprising is the pair swords sticking out of its side. Swords aren't normally able to cut stone, chip, crack or break maybe, but to slice into stone cleanly enough to get stuck is odd. I move to examine them as the golem stops in front of me, I need to know how much damage the average person can do to one of the creations I'm gambling on. Both swords were swung instead of stabbed causing the side of the blade to get stuck about half way.

That isn't too bad even outnumbered against a far stronger formation then what the bandits had destroying my golems would still be a task to take down. Looking over the rest of stone body and see a few dints and chips, probably caused by the spears and hammers currently soaking in there former wielders blood.

The high magic environment of Azeroth must have a positive effect on the strength of both the people living here and the metal that they forge. I will have to take that into account moving forward.

"Is everything okay Master Soulsun?" The Capitan asks me, his voice far more respectful after seeing the destruction I could unleash.

"Yes just making plans for the future" I turn away from the golem to look at him. "Do you think the King will be pleased with the results of this test?"

There's a pause as the Capitan takes in carnage around him one more time, paying close attention to the fallen gate. "Yes I think he will be" his tone one of dumbfounded acceptance.

"Excellent, then if there is nothing else to do here we should get back and inform his majesty" with that I span towards the gate and start walking towards the carriages, followed by a murderous pile of stone covered in the blood of at least a dozen bandit. I admit the smile on my face is probable a bit unnerving.

The ride back to the castle was even quieter then the ride to the camp, mostly because I was the only one in the carriage. Apparently after seeing what my golem could do I was no longer the terrified mage hoping for the king's favour, now I am the man in control of the most horrifying weapon they had ever seen. I was thankful for the silence at any rate.

As soon as we arrive I'm sent to what I assume is the king's private meeting room, followed by the Capitan, to give our report. The door is flanked by two guards in some truly stunning Armor, almost definitely royal guards. We find the king inside sitting at a small table with what appears to be cigarettes, it doesn't smell like tobacco and the insides look red. The room itself is nothing special, just decorated a fair bit fancier then other more public rooms, probably to make a good impression with trying to look like it.

"Your Highness, Captain Padford reporting" he bellows and bows, at least I have a name for him now. I follow suit, trying my best to follow a royal procedure I know nothing about.

"Well?" The king's voice is both impatient and hopeful, like a child on Christmas looking at the presents under the tree waiting for their parents to give them the go ahead to let loose.

"The mage's golem performed far better then you hoped it would" he steps forward while raising back to full height. "The bandit camp lasted less than ten minutes once its assault started"

"Wonderful" he yells as he puts out the burnt out butt in the ash tray. "You will have to tell me the full story, but for now Soulsun and I have much to discuss about his new position as ... golem master? Master golem smith? I'll think of a proper title later" he reaches to the pile cigarettes and a litter. "Join the other guards outside the door, I'll have one of you escort him to his new room when were done."

"My king are you sure that's a good idea?" I didn't miss the sideways glance he shot me as he spoke.

"You don't need to worry Capitan Padford I have no reason to harm his majesty" I step next to him joining the conversation proper. "Now that he has agreed to make use of my service it's now necessary to my best interests that he be kept, not only unharmed but also to improve the power of his kingdom." My nose feels pretty brown right now but it's all for the greater good.

The Capitan shoots me an irritated look before looking back to the King, who gives him a nod and sends him off with a shooing motion as he lights his cigarette. One salute later he's gone.

"Take a seat Soulsun" I do as I'm asked. "Let's be blunt, how long until you can make me my army" his tone makes it very clear that I'm dealing with business king now.

"Assuming you have everything I need to build a proper workshop and the supplies to keep up with the manufacturing process, I can start production in three months"

"Three months?" He frowns clearly not liking the answer "why such a delay? You told me that that you could make them quickly enough that I would never be left wanting for troops."

"Yes, but before that can happen I need to set up a proper workshop, well I say workshop but factory is a better description" I know just dropping this on him won't win me any favours but it will give me my workshop and if I'm lucky my homunculi. "I need three months just to build everything that I will need to create the golems with any sort of haste, and that's not even taking into account the training of assistants"

"Assistants? You said you could do this yourself" I hadn't but I wasn't about to correct the increasingly angry royal. He takes a deep breath to compose himself. "How long will this take?"

"Between the times I would need spend working to create golems and maintaining the workshop, about ten years unit-."

"Ten years!?" He yells cutting me off, his face is red and he looks about ready to kill. "I will not be made a fool of by some-"

"However" I speak over him and whatever hate filled remark he was about to make. "I have a solution that will be as useful to you as my golems." That stops the King cold.

"What could you have that's as valuable as the golems?" He's calmed down somewhat but is clearly still on guard about this whole situation. I've burned a lot of good will by explaining just how much setup this is going to need.

"Homunculi, or to simplify a long explanation artificial humans"

"What?" He seems completely baffled by what I just said

"Homunculi are artificial lifeforms, in this case humans, rapidly grown to adulthood and imprinted with a set of skills so that they may perform tasks that can't be reliably left to any form of automation. They are also incredibly obedient to their creators, or in this case their creator's king."

"And you will be able to teach them to make golems?"

"More that I will be able to teach to operate and maintain the devices in my workshop. The unfortunate trade-off is that the more skills and knowledge you put into them the shorter they last. I fully expect I'll need to replace the first batch within a decade." Aiden looks deep in thought so I think I'm making progress "they are also far cheaper to create then golems and can be, to an extent, recycled."

There's a long pause as he considers everything I've said. It can't be an easy decision to make, to put even more resources, and trust into an almost complete unknown. I need to make this too good to pass up even considering the risks.

"And with them doing most of the grunt work it will free me up to continue my research it make better and more versatile golem."

"What do you mean 'versatile'? What more do you expect them to do?

"Well, while my current golems may give you control of the land there is still the sea and sky to consider." I can see the same greedy shine in his eyes that I saw back in the dungeon come back in full force.

"Fine. You'll get what you'll need but if you haven't started making golems for me with three months not even the Light itself will save you"

"I will not disappoint you my king. I will have a list of everything I will need for both my golem workshop and homunculus laboratory by tomorrow morning" I stand and bow. "If I may be excused I will start as soon as I am shown to my new room."

He sends me off the same way he did Capitan Padford while I start making a mental list of supplies I'll need.

Okay then time to get to work.

AN: sorry for the wait. i blame FE:3H, MH:IB and BL3.


End file.
